Sheet-forming machine



Sept. 18, 1928. 1,684,436 C. E. DELLENBARGER SHEET FQRMING MACHINE Filed Sept. 23. 192O 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 jsept. 18, 1928.

c. E. DELLENBARGER SHEE T FORMING MACHINE Filed Sept. 23. 1920 2 SheetsSheet 2 Patented Sept. 18, 1928.

omrsn s'r'rss CHARLES E. DELLENBARGER, 0F EHIL ADELPE A, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGN'OR TO PAUL CARPENTER, OF GLENVIEW, ILLINOIS.

SHEET-FORMING- IJIACHINEQ Application filed September 23, 1920. Serial No. 412,239.

The present invention relates-to methodsof and machines for forming and handling sheets generally and more particularly for the forming and handling of sheets from resinous, gummy or sticky material and plastic substances such as gum chicle, gum pontianalr, gum caoutchouc, chocolate, taffy, cake and biscuit dough and other confectionery and bakery goods, asphaltum, compounds containing tar, pitch. or other bituminous substances. and the like, which under working conditions are sticky, or both sticky and elastic. i

lVhile the invention has a wide utility for forming and handling by mechanical means,

large variety of products, for purposes of illustration it is here shown. embodied in a machine for producing mechanically from a mass of softened material, substantially continuous sheets of that form ofvgum chicle, colloquially known as chewing gum. It will therefore be described in connection with the production of such articles. 7

he principal objects of my invention are to produce, presently, sheets and eventually sticks. of gum chicle, mechanically, and par ticularly to produce continuous sheets of substantially uniform width, thickness, consistency and weight without requiring manual or other personal contact with the material lv any operative engaged in producing such sheets; to reduce the time required for such production and consequently cheapen the cost of production and enlarge the amount possible for a factory to produce; to produce sheets of a more even and homogeneous texture and more uniform dimensions, density and finish and hence an article more mercharitable; to better, by the use of improved machinery, the conditions of hygiene under which such sheets are formed and finished and thereby to preserve, as vfar as possible, the purity of the material operated upon and prevent the entrance thereinto of any foreign matter and any danger of contamination or infection thereto ensuant from hand manipulation; to provide improved sheet forming mechanism, to provide improved means for preventing the sheet from adhering to the machine elements acting uponit, and to provide improved means for removing and recovering excess materials not consumed in the sheet forming process.

The present'application is in the main a continuation in. part ofmy co-pending application, Serial No. 266,679, in which and in co-pending applications 266,680 and 266,681, (all filed Decemberv 14, 1918) certain features of invention are more fully set forth and claimed.

Prior to the machine of the B'arbicriPatout No. 968,109, in the manufacture of chewing gum, the plastic material was manipulated largely by hand, and the various processes and steps incident tomanufacture necessitated that each relatively short sheet be subjected-to the operation of a considerable number of people. Inorder to maintain the sheets in a sufficiently plastic condition, the

manufacture of chewing gum has heretofore necessarily been conducted under conditions of relatively high temperature, rendering it impossible to obtain much that has been desirable in the way of hygienic conditions,

owing to the fact that it was not foundpos sible, commercially, to produce and cut con 7 tinuous sheets of gum by machinery and without manual processing.

The relatively hot process practiced by the utilization of the machine of the Barbieri patent involves esentially two main features which it has been found desirable to avoid. the firstthat the forming rolls must be heated to keep the gum in plastic condition, thereby not only maintaining atemperature required for working conditions higher than would otherwise be necessary, but also rendering gum from the forming. rolls, thus producing a relatively rough surface. A further ob ject of my invention has, therefore, been to avoid the expense in. complications of, and other objections to such machines involved 1n,

the manufacture, maintenance and operation of the heated forming rolls and scrapers, and

to provide a relatively cold process and eventually to produce a sheet which has a greater tensile strength and a smoother superficial texture- In the attainment of the object-s ahove'set forth and to overcome the objections stated-- and also to gain centain other benefits and. advantages which will be hereinaztter'rnerer specifically pointed out, I have provided a machine, a preferred form of which ia'slruwnon the accompanying drawings Wherein- Figure 1 is an enlarged side elevational- View, partly in vertical section, of the lefthand end of a machine embodying *my'present invention V i Figure 2is an enlargedtop plan view of a portion of the machine oli'Figure- 1; I

Figure 3 is an elevational View of the hopper' employed in the machine of Figure 1, viewing the same fromtheside of themechine, thatis, in the direction indjcated by the arrow in Figure 2; and

Figure" 4 is another elevational View of the hopper, taken 1 at' a right angle to that of" Figure 3', regarding the hopper trom the as pect' indicated by the arrow in Figure '3.

The machine inits preferred form, 1 completed-for the manufacture of sticks of chewing gum, comprises a series of'sets' of mechanisms through which the material acted upon progresses continuously and is finally formed into small sectionssuitable forwrap ing;

maybe enumerated as follows z (1): the receptacle for' receiving and kneading the hot or moist plastic mass" to be formed into a-sheet',

expressing: or otherwise delivering it in a continuous stream or bar of somewhat ey lindr'rcah form, ready for preliminary forming into a continuous sheet, and, it desired, powderingit and the: rolls, as with sugar, prelinr'marily to the subsequent operations, mechanism for giving such cylindrical lerrgth'ofmaterial its first sheet like form, (3) a conveyor for carrying the sheet a certain distanceand'delivering it to a set'of'forming mechanisms, (4)" forming mechanisms for reducing the sheet in thickness as it progrosses therethiough', 5) means-for removing; the snrplus sugar or otherpowder, (6) means for" collecting the excess powder, (7) means separating andwrapping'the sticksofchewing gum thus produced.

The sets of mechanisms referred to under numbers 5, 6, 7 and S for the subject matters of my co-pending application Serial No. 266,- 679, those enumerated under numbers 9 and 10'above for the subject matter of my copending application for patent No. 266,680 and those. enumerated under'number 11; of my copend'ing application for patent No. 266,- 681.

Referring first more particularly to Figure 1, which shows the receiving and preliminary forming mechanism most clearly, it will be.

observed that I have provided a stationary receiizer 1;, somewhat analgous' to a pugging mill, into which the hot, moist or soft plastic material is guided by meansof the" revolving receiving hopper 2, having an abutment 2 projecting toward the center of the hopperin the mill is arranged a revolving screw 3 having a portion 3 abutting againstfthe hopperportion 2*, and moving therewith relatively to the stationary receiver 1.

The several parts 1, 2, 2, 3 and 3* co-operate in acting. as. a pugging mill in mixing, tempering, kneading and finally expressing the stream or bar of material. Below the orifice 40f the mill is'placcd. a guide 5 of general truncated cone form and adjacent the guidefi is arranged a rotating power feeding device 6, which may be supplied from any convenient source such as the deliveryspout 70f the powder conveyor, to be below more specifically described. Preliminary forming rolls, rotated in the direction indicated by the arrows, are indicated at 8 and 9 andbelow them is arranged a guide plate lO for directingthe sheet onto the endless conveyor belt 11 which moves in the direction indicated by the arrow.

Referring now more particularly to ure 1, the sheet as it passes from the conveyor belt 11 is directed. through oppositely disposed pairs of. finishing rolls adapted to smooth and compress, and, if desired, to reduce in: thickness the sheet as it progresses away from the said rolls 8 and 9.

The sheet as it emerges from the pair of finishing rolls is completed. and ready to be cut into suitable lengthsfor use or for further manipulation Inasmuch; as the construction thus far described is largely that of my copending application, abovereferred to, no further detailed description thereof is deemed ncces sary, but. since the instant embodiment of my invention presents certain improvements thereupon involving -among other features certain'additional: advantages attained a modified form of the receptacle for receiving and kneading the hot'or moist plastic mass tobe-formed into a sheet. I shall now proceed todescribe the same with further references to Figures2, 3 and 4 of the drawing.

The hopper 2 is mounted upon the rotatable ill In actual practice, I have found that the best results are attained by giving the hopper the contour shown in the drawing, and particularly when used in the manner and for the purpose and in connection with the mechanism described.

Viewing Figure 2, it will be observed that the mouth of the hopper 2, is formed by the curved gulde wall 25, which is concentric with the vertical axis of the hopper, by the straight guide walls, 26, 27, on one side of sa1d curved wall 25, and by the reentrant curved guide wall 28, which at 2 forms an abutment for the material.

Immediately below this abutment 2 and to the rear thereof, the hopper is provided with a covered extension indicated generally at 30, the curved roof of which slopes downwardly to the outer periphery of the screw 3 and is arranged generally at an angle to the plane of movement of the top of the screw 3.

In order to assure that the plastic mass. as it is fed into the mill, is so fed by implacing into the hopper 2, relatively small portions of material which will be most efficiently acted upon by the machine, the mouth of the hopper is made to cover an area that is but a fraction ofthat of the plane of rotation of the screw 3, whereby the screw driving the greater part ofthe revolution thereof is freefrom the pressure of fresh masses of material. but acts upon masses just inserted into the hop per. against the abutment 2 and forced lat- The mill, 1. is filled with hot, moist or soft plastic material and is gradually fed therefrom in a substantially cylindrical form by means of the feed screw 3. The cylinder thus formed passes between the rolls 8 and 9, being prevented from sticking thereto by means of the application to the cylinder and to the rolls of an ample supply of powdered material fed from the powder feed device, 6, which preferably should be rotatahly located be tween the lower end of the mill and said rolls 8 and 9, though auxiliary powder feed de-' vices may be located at any other desired points on the machine. The sheet formed by the rolls 8 and 9 passing on to the belt, 11, is thereby transferred upwardly and to the right or rear to the forming or thinning rolls. The material becomes considerably cooled during this traverse of the length of the machine and is therefore of'suitable consistency and in the condition requisite for reduction in thickness or other manipulation by the sets of finishing rolls.

fter it passes the last mentioned rolls, it is ready to be deliveredor fed to other mechanism for further action.

While I have referred tothe bar or stream of material as it issues from the orifice of the mill as a cylinder, it will be appreciated that a circular cross-section is merely a convenience. and by no means essential.

From the foregoing description of my improved sheet making machine and process as arranged for the manufacture of chewing gum, it willbe apparent that they are equally applicable for the manufacture of the socalled prepared rooting sheets embodying bituminous compounds, wherein a film of tine sand is interposed between the stream of plastic material and the forming mechanlsm in order to prevent adhesion of the moving bar to the pressure rolls. Similarly that in the manufacture of biscuit, a film of flour may be used to prevent the dough from sticking to the rolls, and that the conveyor, 11, may be made of such length as to give the sheet thus formed a sufficient traverse to become dried to such an extent as may be desirable before further operations are carried out. The function of the powdered substance is, generally, to absorb heat or moisture as the case may be and to prevent direct contact of the material of the bar with the forming device, the powder, of course, acting purely superficially with respect to the material of the sheet. It will be equally clear that such time interval as may be required for the cooling or drying of the preliminarilv formed sheet may be provided by suitably modifying the length of the conveyor. The sets of finishing rolls be of such number as is found desirable for the finishing operations, and are preferably vertically adjustable for controlling the thickness of the finished sheet.

'Having thus described my invention and illustrated its use, what I claim as new and desire to secure'by Letters Patent is 1. In a machine of the character described, in combination, a hopper and a mill, one of said elements being movable relatively to the other, about an axis. the hopper being provided with a passage from the inlet to the outlet thereof curved about said axis.

2. In a machine of the character described. in combination, a hopper and a mill, one of said elements being movable relatively to the outlet; thereof curved about said axis in two planes.. i

3." In a machine. of the character described, in combination, a hopper and a mill, one of said elements being. movable relatively to the other, about an axis, the hopper being provided with a passage from the inlet to'thc outlet thereof curved aboutsaid axis defined by a laterally curved roof.

at. In a machine of the character described,

' in combination, a hopper and a mill, one of said elements being movable relatively to the other, about an axis, the hopper being provided with a passage from the inlet to the outlet thereof curved, about said axis defined by a.

downwardly curvedlroof. V

5. In a machine of the character described, in combination, a hopper and a mill, one of said elements being movable relatively to the other, about an axis, the hopper being provided with a passage from the inlet to the outlet thereof curved about said axis defined by a laterally and downwardly curved roof. I

6. In a machine ofthe character described, I

nan-isms;

videdwitliraipassage from theimliet to theoutlet thereof eurvedabout said .azxis. and anabutment adapted to guide. the material intosaid. passage. a

8. In a machine of the characterdescribed, in combinatioma hopper anda mill, one of said elements being movable relatively to the other, about an'axis, the hopper being prov vided witha: passage from. the inlet to the outlet thereof curved about; said axis and a cunvedabutment adaptedito guide-the material into said passage.

9. In. a. machineof the character described, in combination, a hopper and a mill, oneof said elements being movable. relatively to the other, about an axis, the hopper being pro vided. with a passage from the inlet tothe. outlet thereof curved" about said axis and an abutment adapted to guide the material. into said passage, and an inclined surface by which the material .is directed against said.

abutment.

10.. In. a. machine of. the character described, inrcombination, ahopper. and. a. mill, one of said. elements being movable relative- 'ly to the other,.about an axis, the hopperv beingprovidediwith a passage from the inlet to the outlet thereof. curvedabouttsaid axis,[the

hopper being disposed; substantially onone sidexof the axis'of rotation.

In. testimony whereof I have hereunt signed, my. name.

onanns's n. DELLENBARGER. 

